A waffle is made by pouring a dose of batter onto one profiled plate of a waffle press that is formed by two such plates that are normally hinged together so that they can be closed on the batter and heated to cook the batter into a stiff waffle having opposite faces complementary to the respective faces of the plates of the press. The halves of the waffle press can be provided with their own heaters or the entire press can be put in an oven to cook the waffle.
In the mass production of waffles a succession of such presses are carried on an endless chain that passes through successive stations. At an upstream filling station the respective doses of batter are charged into the open presses, normally dumped atop the bottom half of each press which is arranged horizontal while the upper half is vertical. The presses are subsequently closed to compress the mass of batter and conform it to the shape of the press halves, and the presses move through a heating oven formed as a tunnel to bake the waffles. Then the presses are opened and the waffles are removed. The open presses can then pass through a cleaning station between the waffle-removing station and the filling station.
German Pat. No. 3,817,919 (based on an Austrian priority of 01 Jun. 1987 and assigned to Franz Haas Wafflemaschinenen Industrie GmbH) describes a mass-production method of making multicolored waffles. In one example two half portions of a batter comprising by weight 58.39% water, 38.93% wheat flour, 0.78% soy flower, 0.51% sugar, 0.39% lecithin, 0.16% baking soda, 0.08% salt, and 0.78% peanut oil are differently tinted with edible dyes and one of the portions is applied in a pattern on one face of an open waffle press, for instance in a spiral or circle. This portion is then heated for about 15 sec at about 170.degree. C. to 190.degree. C. and then the second portion is poured atop it and the press is closed. The closed press is then heated at the same temperature for 1.5 min to 2 min.
The result of this process is a multicolored waffle which can be sold as a novelty food item or that can be identified from the pattern as the product of a particular manufacturer. One face of the waffle can be colored differently from another or have a pattern that is different from that of the other, and by using chocolate or the like as coloring agent the colored portions can even have different flavors.
This procedure suffers from several drawbacks. First of all the cooking time for the first-applied pattern batter is not inconsiderable, so the mass-production operation must be slowed down since if the pattern batter is not sufficiently cooked the subsequently applied body batter will displace it. Furthermore it is impossible with this method to define a pattern or any fineness of detail, that is only coarse designs can be made.